


Makes Four

by misssnowfox



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Dogs, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Musician Sugawara Koushi, Volleyball Coach Sawamura Daichi, loosely based on 101 Dalmatians, the one where Hinata and Kageyama are dogs and they help their dumb owners get together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27049948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misssnowfox/pseuds/misssnowfox
Summary: The husky hunches his shoulders, clearly shocked - and rightfully so - at the pipsqueak squaring up to him. It’s difficult to hear anything over Hinata’s barking, but as soon as Suga notices the low, rumbling, aggressive growls from the other dog, he’s on Hinata in a second, grabbing his leash and looping it around his wrist.“Cut it out!” he tells the other dog, who’s certainly giving as good as he gets. But he could also squash Hinata with just one of his eyelashes if he wanted to; it’s hardly a fair fight.Just as Suga is about to scoop Hinata up and take him home for a stern talking to, he hears a frantic, “Tobio!” and looks up to see a young man running up to the husky, leash in hand and eyes stern but panicked. He leashes his dog - Tobio, apparently - immediately and gets down to his level, shushing him. “What the hell were you thinking running off like that?” he mutters in a low rumble of his own. “You want to give me a heart attack?”____Suga should know better than to trust in a routine, especially when he has a feisty pomeranian living with him. What starts out as a regular walk in the park, soon becomes a chance encounter that may just change everything.
Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 98





	Makes Four

Adopting a dog had not been in Suga’s plans when he moved to Sendai a year ago. But despite his close circle of friends, his students filtering in and out of his home for music lessons and his busy schedule, none of it was quite the same as having a permanent companion. One that didn’t require an extra bedroom.

 _Choosing_ a dog for his modest Sendai apartment, however, had been a struggle. Countless hours of scrolling and research had led him to his local animal shelter in search of a poodle that his friend had reliably told him was available. He’d barely had a chance to take a few steps before a high-pitched, incessant yapping pierced his ear.

To his left - alone, but excitable - had stood and little ginger pomeranian, rearing up on his tiny legs, paws pressed to the bars and eyes shining like the sun. He’d barked as though his entire life’s food supply had depended on it. Or at least, he had right up until the moment that Suga strolled over to his pen. The smile that spread across Suga’s face was the kind that could only appear after witnessing something so small and harmless behaving as though he could tear the world apart, one bark at a time. 

All it had taken was Suga approaching him, placing a hand absentmindedly on the cool metal of the bars, for the pomeranian to quieten down to a pathetic little chirp and then eventually to silence. Perhaps Suga would have had the heart to walk away and search for the breed he actually came for, but that was a plan created before he’d had his finger licked by the dog, tender and loving and nothing at all like the little devil he pretended to be. 

“Asahi,” he said tentatively after approaching the man behind the counter, heart still pounding. “Can you tell me what you know about that pom?”

Asahi looked up from his paperwork, pushing his glasses up his nose as he did so. He never seemed to buy the right size frames for some reason and Suga’s heart always warmed whenever he saw it. 

After following Suga’s line of vision to the ginger pomeranian behind them, Asahi’s face twisted slightly. Still polite though, because in all the years Suga has known Asahi, he could probably make third-degree murder seem polite. 

“Ooo, um… listen, Suga…” he mumbled, “he’s stinking cute and all, but uh…” He scratched the back of his head.

“What? Is he sick or something?”

“No, no, nothing like that! It’s just, well… he’s the last of his litter left, the others all got adopted really quickly, _including_ him. But he’s been brought back twice already,” he said, his face sunken as he made eye contact with the dog again. “His brothers and sisters got snapped up super fast, seeing as we rarely get puppies in here, but people keep telling us that Hinata is too much for them, too noisy, even for a pom. So both his previous families brought him back.”

“How—” Suga said, pausing to get rid of the lump in his throat. “How long has he been there on his own?”

“About a year, maybe? He’s about a year and a half old I think; the litter came to us when they were six months if I remember.”

A year. 

Logically, Suga was aware that there were dogs at the shelter in far worse circumstances with much sadder backstories, and that had spent far longer waiting and hoping for a home. But something about the knowledge that the dog, who had licked his hand and looked him in the eye with such love and unbridled joy, could have been brought back to the shelter not once, but twice; that he was purposefully ignored and his siblings adopted, leaving him alone for an entire year when he was still so little, was more than enough to break his resolve. 

“Hinata, did you say?” he asked Asahi, receiving a nod in return. Hinata, from his solitary home, yipped in agreement. Suga turned soft, adoring eyes on him and murmured, “I think it’s perfect for him.”

Not only had Hinata been perfect for his chosen name, he’d been equally as perfect for Suga. Ever since he joined Suga’s family of one and made it a family of two, Suga can count on one hand the number of times he’s needed an alarm clock. 

Instead of hitting snooze on a cold, unfeeling wall of traumatic noise, he gets to hit the snooze button that is his beautiful pup who never failed to greet him with a smile in all this time. He’s hardly a puppy anymore - nearly two and a half years old already - but Suga doesn’t have it in him to believe he’ll ever grow to be anything but a baby. And granted, he certainly comes with his own brand of traumatic noise, but somehow it’s all the more bearable - _welcomed_ , even - when that noise is coming from a place of unconditional love and not just a programmed setting designed to get you out of bed in the most unpleasant way possible. 

Suga allows Hinata a minute or two of excitable pouncing in and out of the sheets of his futon as though he’s never visited it, before he scoops him under one arm and brings him close to his chest for their mandatory five minutes of cuddle time. 

Hinata tolerates this for as long as it takes him to remember that morning time means it’s _walkies_ time, and once that happens, no amount of cuddles from Suga keep him at bay. He barks and yaps as Suga splashes water on his face and throws on some clothes, dragging his leash from the front door cabinet and circling around Suga’s bedroom with it. 

“Thank you, Hinata,” he yawns, giving Hinata a grateful tussle between his ears, wincing a bit as his back pinches to accommodate the stretch down to the floor. 

Leashing Hinata used to be a bit of an issue until he learnt through repetition that a leash meant walkies and walkies meant running around. Once the link was made, the leash soon became his new best friend. Possibly even more so than Suga himself, and he’s the one that _feeds_ Hinata. 

After their pre-breakfast walk, which according to Hinata’s pensive and traumatised eyes was nowhere near long enough, he moves onto his next favourite thing of the day - food - followed by his morning nap. Suga had been shocked at first, that someone with as much energy as Hinata was capable of mortal behaviours such as sleeping, but that peace and quiet before his first student of the day every morning is always a godsend. 

Hinata’s adorable snores keep him company as he goes over his calendar, makes whatever tiny adjustments he needs to for his lessons for the day and brews a final cup of coffee before his students arrive.

A while ago, Suga had started asking his students to send him an email once they’d arrived at his front door to avoid the inevitable carnage that Hinata would cause if he heard anyone knocking or ringing the doorbell. To his credit, Hinata usually lasts the first couple of hours of lessons before one of his students inevitably forgets the rule and alerts Hinata’s watchdog senses in all their glory.

Luckily, though perhaps unsurprisingly, in the year he’s lived with Hinata, he’s not had a single student who hasn’t fallen in love with him the second they’ve laid eyes on him. It makes him all the more curious (and angry) how anyone could have lived with Hinata and found it in their heart to give him back. 

It only takes Hinata a few minutes of incessant barking and attention-seeking every time a new student arrives, before he decides that the intruder is harmless and may be permitted to stay in his house. He then putters off on his short little legs, his tail wagging in nothing but practised arrogance, to occupy himself with his third favourite thing; all of his toys. 

By the time 3 pm rolls around and Suga’s last student has left for the day, Hinata is usually exhausted enough from watchdog duty that he’s happily dreaming away in his basket, his nose twitching in anticipation of biscuits, more walkies and more importantly, being able to enjoy his fourth favourite thing in the world; time alone with Suga. 

Working on his own music after his lessons can sometimes be a bit of an uphill battle, but inspiration comes to him surprisingly easy today, his fingers dancing on the keys of his piano just like they used to when he was in college, being opened up to a world of musical possibilities. It’s not till he hears Hinata’s tiny little yelps and feels the tickles around his ankles from his fur that he realises it’s nearly 5 pm. Hinata usually interrupts him long before now. 

His back cracks slightly when he stretches out in a long, luxurious line, fingers trying in vain to touch the ceiling. He really needs to learn to stretch regularly, even when he’s deep in the zone. 

A proper stretch is, of course, out of the question. Now awake and apparently full of the energy he saved by sleeping longer than usual, Hinata is already at the front door, paws up, tail wagging and leash in mouth, looking over his shoulder and letting out heartbreaking little whimpers that more of less translate to, _Dad, it’s time to go, you’ve never walked me in your entire life!_

“Alright boy, I’m coming, I’m coming,” he yawns. He sometimes hates himself for how much he’s willing to let Hinata get away with, but one look at him reminds him just how much he adores him and then it stops mattering entirely whether or not his dog is spoiled. He doesn’t let him scratch the furniture or pee on the floor; the important things. There shouldn’t be such a thing as too much love. 

Hinata had _certainly_ been saving up some power for their afternoon walk. He sniffs and pulls and leads Suga all the way to the park with such force that Suga wonders if he adopted a pomeranian or a wolf. Hinata’s size is a confusing thing to behold sometimes, when his tenacity is taken into consideration. 

Owning a dog as cute as Hinata has certainly added long minutes to any and all errands Suga needs to run, even if the errand is Hinata’s walk itself. Everyone and their mother wants to coo, pet and stare at him and Hinata is a sponge for attention. Every new passerby that fawns over him is gifted with a reaction of such gratitude that anyone would think he’s permanently ignored at home. 

However, no matter how much time Suga spends shepherding Hinata along, away from his mob of adoring fans, he spends equal amounts of time on tugging and encouraging him away from other - usually _bigger_ dogs - that Hinata is apparently genetically predisposed to have personal grievances with. 

Today, they pass a dalmatian, a great dane and a labrador on the way to the park and Hinata tries to murder each and every one of them.

“ _Hina_!” Suga barks at him, “he’s five times your size! Knock it off!”

By the time they get to the park, Hinata is usually all barked out and mostly just overwhelmed to be back and it usually means that Suga is able to lead Hinata with one hand, whilst tapping notes on his phone with the other - a lyric here, the idea for a chord progression there. 

He’s used to Hinata giving him a slight tug here and there when his nose leads him to a particularly interesting spot or he needs the bathroom. But when Hinata stops and turns around, furiously barking at something behind him, Suga is forced to move him along with a stern expression that lets him know in no uncertain terms that he’s about to lose everything if he carries on. 

One eye on his phone and one on Hinata, he catches a glimpse of the poor dog that was the objective of Hinata’s attack this time; a big, handsome black husky sitting next to his owner on a park bench. Suga gives them both an absentminded and embarrassed nod in apology, before managing to usher Hinata back onto their original path. 

As always, after preventing Hinata from starting a fight he knows he can’t win, Suga has a feeling his relationship with Hinata will be forever ruined for precisely five minutes. It only takes a distraction with Hinata’s favourite pastime - catch - before his tantrum is over and Suga is his favourite human once again. 

A few tosses here and there, enough for them to become best friends again, and Suga is able to wear him out enough that he can take a load off and relax up against a tree trunk, wincing a bit at the twinge in his back from the piano, but content. It won’t be long till even the evenings become too hot to fully unwind like this outside, especially with Hinata’s spritely pace. 

He should really know better by now than to get lax around Hinata. After all, he’s been a crazy ball of energy since the day Suga took him home. But he’s so good around Suga and so obedient in a way that he just isn’t other people (even when Asahi occasionally dog sits, he awkwardly has to tell Suga what a challenge it was. Which is Asahi speak for _Hinata was acting up and taking liberties when you weren’t there_ ) that he does find himself getting lazy now and then, not always keeping two eyes fixed on him the way he did when he first adopted him.

Which is how, while Suga is enjoying an ebook on his phone - tossing a ball to Hinata one-handed, the other in a feather-light grip on his leash - his arm suddenly gets tugged sharply and before he’s able to grip the end of the leash, Hinata is off like a rocket, barking up a storm, his lead swinging defiantly behind him as he goes for his target. 

Suga is so taken aback that it takes him three whole seconds to respond. By the time he’s on his feet and caught up to Hinata, he’s already found his prey; a big, handsome black husky about five times Hinata’s size. The husky hunches his shoulders, clearly shocked - and rightfully so - at the pipsqueak squaring up to him. It’s difficult to hear anything over Hinata’s barking, but as soon as Suga notices the low, rumbling, aggressive growls from the other dog, he’s on Hinata in a second, grabbing his leash and looping it around his wrist. 

“Cut it out!” he tells the other dog, who’s certainly giving as good as he gets. But he could also squash Hinata with just one of his eyelashes if he wanted to; it’s hardly a fair fight. 

Just as Suga is about to scoop Hinata up and take him home for a stern talking to, he hears a frantic, “ _Tobio_!” and looks up to see a young man running up to the husky, leash in hand and eyes stern but panicked. He leashes his dog - Tobio, apparently - immediately and gets down to his level, shushing him. “What the hell were you thinking running off like that?” he mutters in a low rumble of his own. “You want to give me a heart attack?”

“Give _you_ a heart attack?” Suga blurts out, blaming his pounding chest for failing to hold his tongue. But Hinata is _tiny._ There are days when he feels _he’s_ in danger of squashing Hinata. Something with teeth that size giving his dog his two cents is stripping him of his usual courtesy very quickly.

With an actual human to direct his anger towards now, Suga finds himself frowning and gripping his own leash even tighter, even as the man’s eyes turn on him and soften with obvious humiliation. 

“I am so sorry about that, we didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You _should_ be sorry,” Suga snips at him. Only now that he’s focused on the owner, hanging onto the bubbling anger is proving difficult, specifically because the person he’s supposed to be angry at has his sleeveless arms flexed and his bare legs out on display. Of course, it would be just his luck that a well-above-average attractive man out for a run would be the one to ruin his and Hinata’s evening. “You have no business coming to the park with an unleashed dog, especially one that big. You do know that’s illegal, right?”

The owner winces and clips the leash onto the collar of his still growling dog. Suga can barely hear him over the noise they’re both making when he snaps, “Tobio! One more sound out of you and you’ll regret it.” 

Tobio doesn’t go silent exactly, but his growl turns into a displeased rumble. His owner then turns to Suga and softly says, “I really am sorry, I know I shouldn’t have let him off the leash, but he was just sitting with me on the bench for a couple of minutes while I stretched.” The shift in his tone in a matter of seconds stumps Suga enough that the retort he had is lost in the back of his throat. “I swear, he’s _such_ a good dog, he wouldn’t hurt anyone.” He hammers the point home by giving Tobio an adorable pat between the ears. _Too_ adorable. 

The next comment is directed right at Tobio, which gives Suga an annoying case of the butterflies. “I have no idea what came over him, he never runs off like that, _do you_ , boy?” He doesn’t sound remotely strict this time. Suga certainly knows the power of a literal pair of puppy dog eyes, even if the ones he looks into are brown, not ice blue. 

“Yeah, well,” he says, shaking his head a little when the man’s arm flexes again to scratch Tobio’s head. “It’s not much of a consolation when your dog just tried to attack my dog.”

Hinata has blessedly calmed down somewhat, peering at Tobio as opposed to actually making a racket like before. 

The man stands up, keeping a firm hand on Tobio’s leash. “Well, look…” he says, scratching the back of his head. “I don’t mean to be rude in the slightest, because I _am_ in the wrong here, but your dog also ran up to mine, trying to antagonise him.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I saw you guys pass us earlier by the bench and he tried to intimidate him then, too.”

It’s then that he realises that, eyes darting from the man to black husky that it’s the same dog Hinata was barking at just minutes prior. All of a sudden his bravado and righteousness feel worthless in the light of Hinata’s transgression of probably riling up this person’s dog for no good reason. But he’s not ready to give up that easily. 

“ _Him_?! He’s no threat whatsoever!”

Which is the exact moment Hinata chooses to destroy his entire line of argument by launching himself at Tobio, giving off such barks that they even catch the attention of a passerby. The unexpected force of it pulls Suga right along with him, despite his size. 

Tobio jumps back in shock and whimpers briefly, until Hinata tries to, quite literally, _bite his ankles_ \- “ _Hina!”_ \- causing Tobio to erupt into earth trembling barks.

“ _Tobio_! _Right_ , we’re going home—!”

But it’s too late.

All of a sudden, there’s a commotion and a confusing series of movements and obnoxious barks and shouts during which Hinata attempts to chase Tobio with Suga still holding onto his leash, Tobio trying to chase Hinata in return, sending both of their owners into a dizzying, spiralling dance. 

It’s not until Suga has found his bearings that he notices the other man has let go of Tobio’s leash. He squeezes his own hand tight, but Hinata’s leash is also gone. It’s gone, because the little monster has somehow run around so fast trying to catch Tobio that he’s accidentally wrapped his leash around both of their ankles by accident. 

“ _Shit—_ I mean—” the other man stutters, his hands mindlessly waving in the air to avoid grabbing onto any part of Suga’s clothing as he attempts to balance himself.

“ _Fuck—"_ Suga supplies, trying to offer him the same courtesy, not least of all because the man is wearing a lot less than him, is extremely attractive and is now involuntarily pressed up right against him. More importantly, Suga refuses to be attracted to someone whose dog has it in for Hinata. 

Only it’s _Hinata_ causing every bit of trouble right now. Suga flushes from both embarrassment and the feel of that chest flush right up against his, and fumbles his way through an, “I’m sorry, I-I don’t know what came over him, I—”

Their dance to maintain an upright balance fails as it was always probably destined to in this position. Both of them taking a step at the same time was a catastrophic mistake, but they’re also more interested in curbing their fight or flight instinct as opposed to coordinating, apparently. 

“ _Wha—_ ” 

It’s three or four panicked, fumbling, backwards steps before gravity takes them. There’s a slight resistance right before they topple over and from his position, Suga can see it’s because of Tobio’s efforts to try and keep his owner upright by chomping on the back of his gym shirt. 

The momentum takes them anyway and Suga’s survival instinct has him shove his face into the man’s shirt and grab hold. At the same moment, he feels a hand slam into the back of his head, cupping it almost alarmingly softly. It’s years later, their dogs sleeping at their ankles, that he remembers to ask if that was a purposeful gesture, or something born out of pure protective instinct. He still doesn’t know which he actually prefers. 

He expects hard, grass-covered ground, but what he gets is a cold, wet splash as they go tumbling into the pond, Tobio’s efforts to protect them in vain. He didn’t even realise how close to the water they’d stumbled. Once he resurfaces after a second, coughing and spluttering and generally worse for wear, he sees Hinata’s head pop out above the surface just to his left. 

He mewls and whines in protest, probably for the same reasons Suga feels miserable as hell. Being submerged in cold, pungent pond water was not how he thought he was going to spend his evening. 

“Oh come here, you absolute—”

“—Oh crap, my phone!”

Suga scoops a forlorn Hinata into his arms and finally sees the other man appear, panicked and drenched. Very, _very_ drenched, jet black hair plastered to his strong features. But mostly panicked.

He stands up lightning fast, rummaging around in his back pockets for what Suga assumes is his phone. Apparently, his things did not have the good luck to end up safely on the ground like Suga’s did

“Crap, are you okay?” he asks in genuine concern. 

“Uh… yeah…” the other man fishes his phone out of his pocket and holds it between two fingers, grimacing at the droplets falling from it. “It’s uh… waterproof I think. Up to like… 30 meters or something? I think I’ll just… not switch it on for a while…”

Suga _burns_ in shame. “You absolute menace,” he hisses at Hinata with actual heat this time. “We’re going home. _Now_.” 

“It’s okay, I can see he didn’t mean to,” the other man says. His shoes and clothes make obnoxious squelching sounds as he climbs out of the pond. Suga isn’t doing much better. “Did anything of yours get ruined?”

Suga shakes his head. Of all the rotten luck he’s been subjected to in the last few minutes, he’s just grateful he left his bag with all his valuables by the tree where he was sitting earlier. “All safe,” he says, the embarrassment clawing at him even more as the man takes a small coin purse out of his other pocket.

“No paper money, luckily,” he chuckles. 

Suga lets a wriggling, drowned rat Hinata down and winces as he dries off the grimy pond water with a speedy shake of his entire coat. Usually, it makes Suga giggle, even though he’s seen it thousands of times by now. The fact that he has no reaction tells him Hinata has _really_ pissed him off this time.

“I really am _so_ sorry, I…” 

His throat shouldn’t be able to dry up having just been submerged in a pond, but it does in an instant when he takes a proper, long look at the man in front of him. Because not only are his muscled arms and legs shining and slick with water, not only are there teasing little droplets of falling from the tips of his short black hair and his nose and his chin, but his gym gear is now stuck to his skin. God are those actually _abs_ underneath there?

It takes him approximately ten seconds to realise he’s staring, but it doesn’t humiliate him as much as it should. One look at the direction of the other guy’s eyes, his parted lips and shocked expression, tells him that he’s looking right back. One look down at his own body gives him a pretty good indication as to why that is. 

Suga’s own white shirt has stuck directly to his, admittedly, less toned stomach. If anything, he looks far more lewd than his new partner in crime, both of them subject to torture from their respective dogs. Looking back up, he has a feeling that that tiniest hint of pink in the other man’s cheeks has nothing to do with the cool temperature of the water. 

The moment is mercifully broken by the other man making the executive decision to look away first and bending over to put his phone and wallet down on the drier ground. 

“Something funny?” he asks. It’s only then that Suga realises he was holding in his giggles. Apparently, very poorly. 

“O-Oh, I’m so s-sorry, it’s just…” is all he manages before he explodes again. Right there, on the back of the other man’s running shorts, is a gaping hole where Tobio had tried to spare him the tumble into the pond. 

“...Nice boxers?” Suga supplies, before letting his giggles claim him again. It’s a far less humiliating situation than if he’d found himself staring at the guy’s ass for far less humorous reasons. It is, after all, from what Suga saw of it, a _very_ nice ass.

The other man erupts in an adorable sort of dance where he attempts to look at his own backside, almost the way Hinata does when he tries to chase his own tail. It’s a heartwarming sight that Suga could get used to all too easily.

He must see the hole, because he stops dead, and a second later, he matches Suga’s laughter. He didn’t even think it was possible that a laugh that bright could come out of someone seemingly so serious with such a rough and ready voice. 

His proprietary sinks in far later than it should, but he doesn’t even recall the last time he laughed so hard that his abs _hurt_.

“Here,” he says softly, removing the jacket that’s as wet as his shirt. He holds it out but as soon as he realises how saturated it is and how pathetic his bid for help appears, it sets both of them off again.

It’s the kind of laughter that should only really exist in the throes of innocent youth. It has no place living within people struggling with bills, careers, the daily stresses of life. And yet Suga feels as though five years have been added to his life. Even Hinata and Tobio, who are sitting side by side now, of course, innocent of any and all wrongdoings, have their vacant expressions tilted to the side in vague judgement and their parents’ behaviour.

The man holds a hand out as his chuckles dissipate somewhat. “I guess it would be rude not to.”

Suga has no idea what he’s planning on doing with it, but his heart warms when the man wraps the jacket around his waist and ties the arms at the front like a schoolboy. Pretty efficient solution - enough to protect his modesty - even if he looks the definition of silly.

Suga’s keys fall out of the jacket pocket along with a soaked business card - the only personal items he had on him - and he bends down to pick them up, when the familiar twinge in his back makes him bite out a groan.

The man moves to help him, but Suga is already upright. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah—” he sighs. “Just regular back issues. No big deal.”

“Do you— I mean— would you like me to take a look?” Suga raises his eyebrows. “It’s okay!” the other man chuckles. “I’m a professional.”

“Oh?”

“Oh,” he confirms. “Here, uh…” he casts his eyes around the slowly emptying park and lands on a lamppost. “Come hold onto this for me.”

Suga has no reason to do a single thing this perfect stranger tells him, but he’s still wet and cold and has little else to be occupying his time with while he waits for his clothes to dry. There are worse experiences he could have right now than a gorgeous man - personal trainer? Cyclist? Regular gym-goer? - touching him in the park. 

“Stand in front of the post. Yeah, that’s it, drop your waist and let your entire weight fall back, hold onto the post while you’re doing it. Yeah, just—”

“So what is— _ow_ —” Suga’s fingers tighten around the post as he finally stretches out the bottom of his spine in the odd standing stretch the man has put him in.

“Eeeasy…” he breathes, voice like honey. “I’m guessing that hurts a little?”

Suga hums in agreement. Then, through slightly gritted teeth and pinched eyebrows, he says, “—what is it that you do that makes you… such an expert?”

The man’s hands smooth down his back, purely professional, but unfortunately for Suga, he’s seen the face those hands belong too. His body tells him it’s the opposite of professional. “I’m a volleyball coach, but I took a basic entry-level course in physical therapy too. I just… I like to cover all bases, you know? Just in case any of my kids get hurt.”

Of course he coaches kids. Of course he’s an athletic coach. All he’d have to do is throw in a tidbit about helping homeless charities in his spare time.

“Jack of all trades, huh?” Suga breathes, relaxing into the stretch a little more.

“But master of none?” he replies, amused and low.

Suga throws a small look over his shoulder as best he can in this position. “I wouldn’t say that…” 

The hands on his back slow and stop completely. Suga wonders if maybe he’s made a tremendous misstep and is about to spend the next few minutes finding the least awkward way possible to grab Hinata and _leave_. 

But no. 

The other man is still staring at him, filling the silence with anything but discomfort. 

“Well, anyway—” he coughs, stepping back from Suga and clapping his hands. “Looks like it’s just a posture problem; nothing some light stretches and breaking a bad habit won’t solve.” It takes a few rubs of his lower back to stand up comfortably and a few deep breaths to deal with whatever that silence just was. The heat from the man’s hands lingers like a whisper. “What do you do all that’s got you all…” the man wriggles his hands in a twisted, contorted manner as though it’s supposed to resemble Suga’s posture. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is?”

“I’m a teacher,” he grunts, finally stretching fully and standing upright. “Well, I mean, sort of, I uh… I’m a pianist. I write music, and I sell my songs occasionally, but teaching is my main gig. I take private students in my apartment.” The regular twinge is already miles better just through that one simple stretch. Not just a pretty face, apparently. “I guess uh… I guess I could go for some stretches,” he admits sheepishly, choosing not to add that he’s often neglected yoga in favour of getting too engrossed in _this one part_ of a song for too long.

“It will help a lot. But yeah, that kind of work can be gruelling on the lower back.” The man puts a hand to his own spine to indicate. “But private teaching sounds very interesting! I bet he _loves_ all of those visitors,” he smiles, cocking his head in Hinata’s direction, amused sarcasm dripping from every word. Both the dogs are… eerily quiet all of a sudden. Suga should probably keep one eye on them in case of a repeat performance. 

“Oh, he does actually!” The annoying truth is, Hinata _loves_ visitors. He might like to start fights with dogs, but humans are his best friends. “A little too much, that’s the problem. A little disruptive now and then, but who could ever say no to that sort of interruption?” Especially when said temptation is becoming fuzzier by the minute as he dries off from the pond water, no hairdryer in sight.

“He just wants to be close to you at all times, huh? Pretty relatable little guy.” Suga’s eyes snap up only to find the guy looking more shocked than he is. There is no way on earth that he meant to say that out loud. “I mean— uh— that is—” 

It’s painfully, disgustingly cute, the way he goes from confident volleyball coach, practically feeling Suga up in the middle of the park, to stumped and unsure. In an act of kindness that would have seemed impossible just minutes ago, Suga and cuts him off with–

“–What about yours? Tobiuo, is it?” 

He laughs, the ice suitably broken. “Tobio,” he corrects.

“Tobio,” Suga replies. “Is he good with strangers?”

The man winches slightly. “Oh uh… not really…” he peers at his dog as subtly as he can. Tobio stares them down, very aware of his place in the conversation. “He— I mean, he’s a _really_ good dog once you get to know him.” 

He’s got the same tone Suga uses when he’s trying to explain to someone how sweet Hinata is, despite his outrageous volume. It’s nice to know he’s not the only crazed dog owner out there. 

He can’t help but smirk a little, though, and give the guy a teasing,“kinda hard to get to know him when he’s so…” he bares his teeth and mimics a set of claws.

“That’s true, that’s true,” the man chuckles. Tobio whimpers from the sidelines, unable to defend his honour. His owner, however, does more than a good enough job for him. “He’s a rescue dog though, so he’s just _super_ attached to me and doesn’t trust easily. Can seem hostile even though he’s actually a huge softie behind closed doors.”

Suga nods along, taking a quick look himself at their pair of dogs, who have completely lost interest in the conversation and are now more interested in sniffing each other’s butts. “Hinata’s a rescue dog too, but he’s never had an issue with strangers. Although he does like to square up to bigger dogs, as you know well enough,” he chuckles sheepishly, “but that's just because he likes the attention.”

The cheerful, charismatic tint to the man’s eyes diminishes somewhat. “Ah, see… Tobio was actually abandoned. I found him on the side of the road three years ago when he was little and I took him to the animal shelter, but the second I tried to put him on the floor, he started howling like he was in pain.” Suga almost feels bad for even bringing up the topic of something that’s clearly a very painful memory. “I don’t think I could have given him away if I tried at that point, to be honest.” He crosses his arms over his chest and smiles at Tobio out of the corner of his eye. “So yeah, he just doesn’t know how to play nice with people who aren’t me, and especially with other dogs.”

“I can see that,” Suga teases with an attempt to lighten the depressing mood he created.

The man tilts his head forward, a comfortable, cheeky glint in his eye, calling Suga’s bluff right back. “Honestly, he didn’t give off the best first impression, but he never usually gets aggressive, only when he’s provoked, uh…” he sends a not-so-subtle look in Hinata’s direction.

“Point taken,” Suga huffs in amusement. 

“But, granted, he’s a big guy, so I appreciate it’s not the most… _pleasant_ experience to see something that massive charging and barking at you. Honestly, he only dislikes other dogs because he thinks they’re trying to hurt _me_. Like I said, he’s uh...”

“A bit of a daddy’s boy?” Suga supplies. “I know the feeling. But hey, at least you know he’ll protect you, I guess.” He shakes his head in amusement at the thought of what Hinata would be capable of if he were that size. “Hinata likes to think he’s the world’s greatest watchdog, but he’s basically just the world’s fluffiest firecracker. He’s not much of a threat.”

The man smiles sheepishly and brings a hand to the back of his head once more. It’s a gesture Suga’s already getting dangerously attached to. “I’ve gotta say though,” the man says, lowering his voice and actively directing his gaze away from the dogs. “Just looking at him is making me wanna get another puppy. Tobio would _hate_ that though.”

“Ummm… you say that…”

“... Well I’ll be goddamned...”

He couldn’t resist giving the dogs a side smirk just to see what Tobio’s reaction was to the concept of introducing a puppy into his - clearly already very happy - family. Except now, he wishes he hadn’t looked. Not just because he’s pretty sure he’s seconds from having a heart attack, but he’s also not entirely sure how he’s going to take Hinata home now without receiving a serious case of the silent treatment. 

Because where before there were two dogs, sitting side by side, sussing each other out like the mortal enemies Suga thought they were, there is now just one pile of dog. Namely, Tobio laying on the ground with Hinata a pomeranian-shaped growth in between his front paws. He’s snuggled in so close that Suga can barely see him, save for the helpful pop of orange by Tobio’s breast. In true Hinata fashion, he’s fidgeting and making himself comfortable in his new home. 

“It looks like they got over their differences pretty quickly, huh?” Suga marvels. When he turns to face his own companion, the man’s eyes are wide and helpless; the very definition of touched, but distraught. 

“Oh my god, how are we going to separate them now?” he asks. At least Suga isn’t alone in his concerns, then.

“I… really don’t think we _can_ ,” he grimaces. “I’ve never seen Hinata that at ease with another dog…”

“At ease? They’re _cuddling_.” 

“That they are,” he agrees softly. 

But what _really_ gets Suga’s attention, what really makes his heart skip and throat close up with emotion is the moment when Tobio angles his head down, and in an attempt to calm his new companion, scoops him in with two paws and begins licking him atop the head in long, easy strokes.

Perhaps it’s the, quite frankly, sickenly sweet sight in front of him that causes the momentary lapse of judgement. After all, he doesn’t _actually_ know if this guy is single, if he’s into guys, if he’s into _him_. The evidence certainly would suggest all of the above, but nothing is ever certain. He dips one toe in, just a little, just to see if there’s any point trying.

“But hey, can’t say I blame Hinata for getting sucked in,” he attempts with coy trepidation. It’s been a while since he’s done this, but he likes to think he’s not completely out of practice. “After all, Tobio resembles his owner pretty perfectly.” 

“What, loud and hairy?” he asks with a chuckle.

Suga just about resists the urge to roll his eyes. It should be illegal to be so adorable while at the same time having thighs that could do some pleasant damage to him. “No,” he teases, “tall, dark and handsome; not to mention, built like a house.” 

He receives the surprised look he’d been needling for, but there’s a natural confidence to the man’s posture that wasn’t necessarily there before; almost as though he was waiting for Suga to bite first and show his interest. It suits him.

“I could say the same thing about Hinata.” 

“I’d say Hinata is the opposite of big and strong, wouldn’t you?” Suga laughs.

The man then looks up at Suga through a pair of thoroughly disarming eyes, and with not a single stutter, not one trip up or misstep, he says, in a buttery, smooth voice, “I meant that he matches his feisty owner who also happens to be incredibly cute.” 

Perhaps it _has_ been too long since he’s done this, because it’s now Suga’s turn to be lost for words. Perhaps the guy’s earlier shy fluster was simply born out of a pet-induced panic, because that is _not_ the same demeanour of the man who ran up to him, apologetic and embarrassed just minutes ago.

It’s so rare to notice the complete absence of awkwardness when flirting with someone new. Suga may not necessarily have a list of names as long as his arm, but he’s very aware that it should usually feel like much harder work than this.

“I’m, uh… I’m sorry about all the commotion,” Suga says finally, a little blushed. “I… I suppose I should do something to make up for my dog’s bad behaviour, shouldn’t I?” His eyes drop to the jacket wrapped around the man’s waist and the prominent hole in his shorts that hides underneath. “And for the uh… damage…” 

“Yeah, me too, I’d love to… make amends for Tobio,” the man agrees, playing along in perfect harmony. “Though by the looks of things, it worked out for the best.” 

They turn in unison to their dogs over by the tree, an unspoken, mutual agreement to let the moment sit there in quiet ease. 

Hinata has since moved from his spot between Tobio’s front paws and has now climbed onto his back. He uses his teeny tiny paws to perch himself in the perfect position to give Tobio a kiss right back, right between his pointed ears. Tobio, even with an incessant little squirt licking away atop his head, doesn’t even flinch. He merely lies there and closes his eyes in either resignation or bliss. It’s hard to tell.

When Suga looks back at the man in front of him, he’s surprised to see him already turned away from the dogs and back to looking at Suga. Not in the excited, indecent way he was taking notice of his see-through shirt earlier, but instead with something calm. Too familiar and too serene for an acquaintance so short. It’s not the sort of look one gives a person they’ve just met. It’s the sort of look one gives a partner, a lover, right after they just came home after a long day at work and caught their dogs engaging in a private moment of their own.

Suga knows in that moment, that he can’t allow them to leave this park as passing strangers. He wants to know everything about this man. Whether it be for a day, a week, or several years. He wants to see what else is hiding under that dazzling, handsome smile. The kindness, the spite, the fury and the delight. The disconnect between the charming, polite stranger who minds his language even when he’s about to collapse into a filthy pond, who took on a husky puppy simply because he needed him and who also has the charisma of a dozen conmen. He wants it all to himself and damned be whether or not he’s got his head in the clouds for thinking so.

“Yeah…” he breathes, not taking his eyes off the other man for a second. “I mean, we’ll be keeping in touch, I imagine. For the dogs,” he clarifies with a teasing smile.

The man breaks out of his trance and looks to the ground, then flicks his eyes back up. He _must_ know how distracting that is. “You know, I, uh… just realised I know Hinata’s name, but… not yours.”

Suga lowers his own eyes. He’s been told he has something of a coquette in him if he really tries. Time to see if he lives up to that nickname. “Give me your phone,” he smirks.

“What for?” the man asks, but he’s already reaching for it.

“So I can write it in there along with my number.”

The knowing look he receives is enough to continue to fuel his bravery in whatever dance they’re engaging in. luckily, the phone is now dry and fully survived the battle with the pond, or else this could have been very difficult

“Sugawara…” the man reads off his screen once Suga has given it back to him. “Is that your first name?”

“No, it’s not,” he says and makes sure to supply a devilish grin.

The man raises his eyebrows at the unspoken challenge. “Any chance you’ll tell me what it is?”

A comfortable, practised tease. Hands behind his back, chin tilted up a little in defiance as he chirps, “how about I tell you when you call me. But for now, you can call me Suga.”

It’s so much fun. It’s so tantalisingly fun that Suga might as well be fifteen again and sneaking notes into a sweetheart’s locker at school. 

“Suga…” the man repeats, testing it out in his mouth. He must decide he likes it, because the next thing Suga knows, he’s punching out a text into his phone. Suga already expects the buzz from his bag by tree, but his heart still skips and it takes everything for his feet not to follow. He _calmly_ walks over to his satchel and takes out his phone.

**From: Unknown**  
**To: Koushi Sugawara**  
_My number. So I can hopefully return the jacket you let me borrow so kindly._

Suga grins at his phone, taking careful note of the man’s tact. “Do I not get _your_ name then?” he asks, testing the waters more than he would usually dare, but he can’t help it. Talk about a human designed perfectly to make him crazy. “Or would you prefer I call you Coach?”

The man doesn’t miss a beat, not a single one, when he smirks, and tilts his jaw in _just_ the right way when he says, “why don’t we agree, you tell me _your_ name when I call, and I’ll tell you _mine_ when we go for a date.”

Suga’s heart stutters like the traitor that it is. So much for playing it cool. “Pretty confident, aren’t you?” he breathes, voice pitched a little higher than usual.

There’s the tiniest crack at that comment. The man’s eyes soften and he bites his lip, but otherwise keeps his composure. “Should, uh… should I not be? I’m sorry if I’m overstepping…”

To think that he could ever imagine that he’s overstepping when Suga might be seconds away from just throwing caution to the wind and trying for a kiss. Even a tiny one. If only they weren’t in public, he might have had the insanity. “You’re a volleyball coach, aren’t you?” he asks instead, “shouldn't you be able to tell when you’re right on the mark?”

And all at once, the tension melts once more. The man smiles, visibly relieved and gives a quick, bright whistle in the dogs’ direction. He is _so_ attracted to this man. 

“Tobio! Come on boy, time to go!” he calls. Tobio whines pitifully from where he’s being practically bathed by Hinata and doesn’t move when called the first time. “I know, I know, how about I give you a special treat when we get home?” the man attempts. 

Suga decides to aid him with a quick click of his fingers and a high pitched voice that usually makes Hinata go bananas. “Hina! Come on boy!” he yips. Even smitten with this new husky, Hinata comes to him like an overexcited tornado. Once he’s in his arms however, it takes five seconds for him to bury his face in Suga’s shirt and whine quietly. 

A second whine makes its way from Tobio as he drags his feet to his dad’s side. 

“I feel like a terrible person,” the man sighs, tussling Tobio between the ears as he complains.

“So do I,” Suga admits. Tonight will be a world of pain for him as Hinata recounts to him in vigorous detail how much of a terrible parent he is.

He smiles at the man, only now sharing in Hinata’s sadness. It’s utterly ridiculous, really. Unlike Hinata, Suga _knows_ he’ll be seeing this man again. He knows that they technically have a date planned and ready to go, all they need is the verbal confirmation. He doesn’t know if it’s a good or a bad sign that the thought of being apart already is making him want to claw at something. 

Maybe he _could_ go for a kiss. Maybe the park is empty enough for him to get away with it. He could be quick. Just a peck, just something to keep him company while he fantasises about the stuff they'll talk about and the man’s arms and his legs and his furiously hammering heart and—

“—I’ll be seeing you then, Suga.”

It melts like that. But the heat, the very present and telling heat - in his fingers, in his belly, in his heart - still remains.

“Be seeing you, Coach,” he condeeds. The blush he receives in return almost goes to his head, almost makes him throw caution to the wind and tell the guy to come back to his apartment and not leave till the itch is scratched. 

He doesn’t, though. He has a feeling that this isn’t an itch that’s going away the quick and easy way. And he doesn’t want it to.

On their way back home, Hinata makes it about 300 meters on his own four feet, before he starts yipping and whining in the quiet way he does that Suga knows he’s feeling needy and wants to be carried the rest of the way home. He’s a fiery, independent little guy and usually, preventing him from walking on his own results in a tirade of barks. 

He must really be pining to warrant such a request. 

“Come on then, you little tangerine,” Suga coos as he scoops him, his little pink tongue hanging out in delight as his every whim is granted yet again. “You’ve had a big day, haven’t you?”

Hinata doesn’t get to respond, because his phone interrupts the conversation.

**From: Unknown**  
**To: Koushi Sugawara**  
_Daichi. My name is Daichi Sawamuara_

That summertime boyish crush comes back to him in a wave of excitement at the thought that this attractive, kind guy is just as lost in the moment as he is. That he didn’t even last five minutes. It’s almost enough for him to twirl poor Hinata around as though he’s the protagonist of a budget christmas card. 

One-handed, and a little trembling, he adds Daichi’s name to his contacts and types:

**From: Koushi Sugawara**  
**To: Daichi Sawamura**  
_Nice to meet you Daichi. I’m free every day after 5 and on weekends_

**Daichi Sawamura:** _How about tomorrow night then? That new tsukemen place next to the cinema okay with you? I can book a table for two?_

He adores tsukemen. It has to be a sign. Surely, even the smallest, most insignificant things, can be a sign? 

Hinata fidgets in his arms, very aware of the fact that Suga’s undivided attention is not on him for a full thirty seconds. 

“What do you think, huh?” Suga asks, “you like dad’s new friend?” Hinata cocks his head and says absolutely nothing for possibly the first time in his life. “What do you care, right? You’ve got a friend of your own.”

Hinata whines in agreement. And also to remind Suga that he is a terrible human being and to please bring his new soulmate back immediately. 

**Koushi Sugawara:** _Make that a table for four. I’ve got an armful of pining pomeranian right now..._  
**Daichi Sawamura:** _Same. Tobio hasn’t looked at me for the past ten minutes_  
**Koushi Sugawara:** _Ouch. What an insult._

He grins at the ease with which he can banter with Daichi already. That they’re texting and bonding over their ridiculous dogs already and that he can’t bear to play his enthusiasm down in the slightest. He should at least wait till he’s home. He should _try_ to act his age. 

**Koushi Sugawara:** _Just make sure it’s a pet-friendly place and I’ll see you there :)_

Oops.

 **Daichi Sawamura:** _Sounds absolutely perfect, Suga._

His finger hovers, then retreats, then hovers, then retreats.

 **Koushi Sugawara:** _Koushi._  
**Daichi Sawamura:** _Pardon?_  
**Koushi Sugawara:** _My name. It’s Koushi Sugawara._

Hinata gives out a tiny bark of disapproval at his dad’s pathetic behaviour. 

“Oh shut up, you,” Suga huffs with a laugh. “At least I didn't try to bite his ankles.”

Hinata concedes. He is, after all, very much in the wrong today. 

He’s about to put his phone away, when it buzzes one final time.

 **Daichi Sawamura:** _I know. I saw your name on the business card that fell out of your pocket earlier._

Suga flushes all the way down to his toes.

 **Daichi Sawamura:** _I’ll see tomorrow night… Suga ;)_

He saves Suga’s first name for their third date. When the waiting for the socially acceptable moment to kiss escapes them entirely and they tumble into Suga’s apartment, kissing like hurricanes, nearly perishing when Hinata gets under their feet. 

He uses it countless times in the weeks, months and years to come, interspersed with _Suga_ and _hon_ and seemingly hundreds of other names that come in and out of habit for them. 

He uses it when they go to the animal shelter a year later and adopt two more dogs - they’re never really good at sharing, no matter how long they’re together - and realise that Asahi is, in fact, a mutual friend and is delighted that they’re together. 

They take Hinata and Tobio with them to help pick out their new family members. The second Hinata runs over to a tall, elegant saluki and starts yapping at him with impressive force, they know they probably already have one new pup in the bag. Even if he seems less than impressed with his loud companion.

It takes a little longer for them to find their fourth. It’s actually Tobio who sniffs around the cage first this time - a very un-Tobio like gesture. But the second they see how his eyes light up at the brown king Charles spaniel behind the door, Suga has a feeling they might have hit the jackpot. 

But the final decision is actually made by Tsukki, the dog Hinata picked out just twenty minutes prior. Seemingly aloof and uninterested in a way that had made both Suga _and_ Daichi nervous that he might not fit in with their lively dynamic, no matter how much Hinata seems to like him, he warms up to the spaniel like a baby to a pacifier. 

Suga peaks at the name plaque on the outside of the pen, peers at Daichi with a wide grin and sees him nod. 

“Hey, Tadashi,” he murmurs at the spaniel, excitement building at the way Tsukki’s tail is already wagging. They’re going to be just fine. “You’re coming home with us.”

Daichi comes down to his level, puts an arm around Suga’s shoulder as he gets a better look at their new dog and kisses the side of his forehead. 

“I guess that makes four, then,” Suga says.

“No, hon,” Daichi murmurs, low and sweet, and puts a hand to his heart, then to Suga’s. “That makes six.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is such a silly fic, but long story short, I have a list on my google drive called "HQ Disney AUs I'll never write", only some of them I WILL write apparently. I gave each disney couple a HQ ship counterpart and Daisuga got Roger and Anita. As usual, I did not expect this to come to nearly 10k, but this is me we're talking to now, WHAT ELSE TO EXPECT?!
> 
> I have other Disney AUs on the list I will be writing, so watch this space *peers* but for now, enjoy gay dogs kagehina and soulmates Daisuga being dragged for the ride. 
> 
> Also if you want to see what Hinata and Kageyama look like as doggies, here are the reference images for both of them on my twitter:  
> [CUTE DOGGIES THIS WAY](https://twitter.com/misssnowfox/status/1317210594253168653?s=20)
> 
> ___
> 
> UPDATED A/N
> 
> I can't thank you enough for all the lovely words you've had to say about my fic, but I've decided, at least for the time being, to disable comments on all my fics up to this point. New fics will have comments enabled, but email notifications turned off. This has nothing to do with any negative experiences with anyone commenting (as you can see if you read, it's all very very kind), but I've just found the experience a little too overwhelming for me personally in terms of responding and no matter how many people tell me not to worry, it's not going away, and I know the more I write the more it'll frustrate me. I didn't want to let new people comment on the story and feel ignored or left out because they thought I refused to reply to them. So the best way for me to do that is just to disable all fics where there are already existing comments. I know this can be horribly frustrating for some folks, so if you really would like to get in touch with me, I LOVE talking to new people and you an reach me via my twitter (linked in the A/N) or through my discord handle which is Roxanne#6113
> 
> I love you all and if you happen to find this fic after this A/N was written I hope you enjoy it and I love you all!
> 
> Love Roxanne xxx
> 
> *
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/misssnowfox) to spam me about haikyuu <3


End file.
